Bauer 4000

[JR Boucicaut 3802]

Open

[jbyun04 7]

Introduction:

I bought this blade because I really didn't have the want to spend that extra $20 and get like an Apollo blade or something. This was a good way for me to find out different curves and pick which ones I liked.

Weight/Balance:

When I put this blade into my Vector 100, it balanced out nicely, the blade wasn't so heavy that it made the front end feel heavy to lift up but it made the whole stick feel perfectly balanced. 10/10

Stickhandling/Recieving Passes:

When I tried this thing out, I was surprised at how it handled on the ice and how well it received passes. I've heard other people say otherwise but to me this was perfectly fine from what I've used so far. 9/10

Shooting:

In this area, I would say that this blade is around average. It's nothing too fancy or special but it's also not bad at all. 7.5/10

Durability:

I have 2 of these blades, one is a Pronger and one is a Kovalchuk. I went to 4 stick & puck sessions with my Kovalchuk and it has 3 cracks in total, 1 of them being a giant splitter at the bottom of the blade. This blade gets the paint chipped out very easily and loses it's stiffness really quick. Although my Pronger doesn't have any cracks yet, it does have several chips at the toe, heel and a deep gash in the hosel. 5.5/10

Intangibles:

I bought this blade for $22 CDN at my LHS and they haven't held up really tough at all. I should have just paid another 25 and gotten the Apollo. This blade is good, for about 3 or 4 sessions.

Conclusion:

In the future, if I really wanted to try out a curve in Bauer which is what I did, I would go for this again. However, now that I know what curve I want, instead of shelling out $44 for 2 of these, I'd rather pay $45 for a composite Apollo blade. As mentioned earlier and a few times, if you really want to try out some curves, go for it. It's feel is alright and it's also fairly light.

Overall: 8/10

Edited August 10, 2005 by jbyun04